


Next to your heartbeat is where I should be

by smaragdbird



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Banter, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Poe takes after his dad in some regards, Promises, What's a last jedI?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 12:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15663264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/pseuds/smaragdbird
Summary: History repeats itself and before rushing off on a dangerous mission against the First Order, Poe tells Finn he's finally ready to settle down and build a home together. It happens to be the same thing Poe's father said to his mother before the Battle of Endor.





	Next to your heartbeat is where I should be

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this ](http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/3467.html?thread=5928587#cmt5928587) prompt

“Hey, Finn”, Poe said over radio as he was doing the pre-flight checks on his X-Wing. “If we make it through this, let’s settle down.”For a moment he thought that their connection had been interrupted because there was no answer but silence.

“What?”

“I’m ready. I want to find a nice planet and have a family with you. I’d like at least two kids. And a cat.”

“What?”

“You like cats.”

“That’s not...Why now?”

“Because it’s time. Because the only way I can see my future is with you in it.” There was more he wanted to say, could say. But they were nearly out of time and they were things he had told Finn before. Wanting to settle down, after this battle and not just at some vague point in the future, that was new though and he needed to say it now.

“Me, too”, Finn said, sounding like he had swallowed a stone. “I want four kids though.”

Poe grinned to himself. “I’m willing to negotiate.”

“You’re not just saying this because you think you’re going to die, are you?”

“Of course not. But it’s like my dad said, before you go into a battle like this you realise what’s important. And you are important. You and our hypothetical four kids that we are definitely going to have.”

“And the cat.” Finn reminded him. He had a natural affinity for animals that Poe was lacking completely. It was a small wonder they hadn’t returned from Lothal with their entire cat population attached to Finn.

“And the cat.”

“Actually I want two cats.”

“We’re going to need a big house.”

“On a nice planet. I don’t want to live on a city world. And I want a big kitchen.”

“I’m going to get you the biggest kitchen on the most beautiful planet in this galaxy”, Poe promised. He could see it in his mind, a house with big windows that let the sunlight stream through the curtains and Finn in the middle of it, framed in gold and surrounded by their kids.

“You’re better not dying in this battle, Poe, or I’m going to kill you.”

Poe laughed softly. “You, too.”

“I mean it”, Finn threatened good-naturedly. “If you die I’m going to move in with your dad and tell our kids their father couldn’t be bothered to stick around because you had to go and be a hero.”

“My dad would love that. He’s already practically adopted you and he’d get the grandchildren he’s always nagging me about.” Kes had taken quite a shine to Finn, especially since he had shown more talent in handling nerfs after one afternoon than Poe had his entire life.

“I’m pretty sure your dad would like you to be there, too. Even if you’re useless on the ranch”, Finn added after a moment. “Do you want to go back to Yavin?”

“Maybe”, Poe hadn’t really thought about the planet they would settle on as long as Finn was with him any planet would do. “I can only speak for myself but it’s not a bad place to grow up.”

“You didn’t turn out so bad”, Finn agreed. “Apart from those evil monkeys.”

“Apart from those.” Poe laughed under his breath. Over a different channel his pilots chimed in that they had completed their pre-flight checks and were ready for takeoff. “Finn.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got to go”, Poe took a deep breath. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

/

Alarms were screaming around him as his ship fell quicker and quicker towards the surface of Korriban. Somewhere down there were Rey and Luke facing off against the Knights of Ren, somewhere down there was Finn, leading his soldiers into battle against the First Order.

“BB8”, Poe yelled over the noise, “get me a com link to Finn.”

BB8 reminded him, rather unnecessarily that they were crashing.

“I know, I know”, Poe replied. “Just get a link to Finn, okay? It’s important.”

BB8, bless his little circuits, did as he was told. 

“Finn! Finn, can you hear me?” Poe yelled into his com-link.

“Poe?” Finn’s voice was distant and the channel filled with noise but Poe could hear blaster fire in the background. “Poe?”

“Finn, I might...I might need to take a rain check on our house...and the kids...and the cats...just until the next life, okay. I’m going to find you in the next one. And the one after that. And every single one we’ll ever have. I just...might not make it...in this one…”

“Poe...no, fuck you promised! You promised me!”

Finn sounded angry, angry and scared and Poe wished there was something he could do. At least his heat shield seemed to be holding so he wouldn’t go up in flames as soon as he broke through the atmospheric layer. With a bit of luck he’d be able to talk to Finn until he hit the ground.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, come on, you’re the best pilot in the galaxy, remember? There has to be something you can do.”

“I got hit pretty badly.” Poe swallowed around a dry throat. A few hours ago he had seen the future so easily as if he was already living in it. And now he would never see it. “Finish them, Finn. I know you can. You’ll eliminate the First Order and then you can do all those things you always wanted to do.”

“I wanted to do them with you.”

“I know. Me, too. And I’m sorry I won’t be there, Finn, but I promise you I’ll catch you in the next life.” Korriban’s surface was so close now that Poe could make out individual buildings. Gravity was pulling at him harder than his crashing ship could compensate for.

“Poe!” He heard Finn’s voice in his ear but he couldn’t respond anymore. His world was a hazy mess, images floating together in his vision and he was unable to tell what was real and what was not. “Poe!”

/

He woke up to the feeling of someone stabbing him in the chest with their finger repeatedly. “You are the single luckiest bastard in existence.”

Poe opened his eyes and frowned. “Jess?”

“You unbelievable, stubborn, foolish, stupid, lucky bastard”, Jess said, jamming her fingers against his chest harder with every word.

“Are we dead?” 

“No, you kriffin idiot, we’re not dead. You’re not dead, especially, despite your best attempt”, she grabbed his arm with one hand and his shoulder with the other and helped him to sit up. When Poe looked around he saw that they seemed to be in some kind of valley with doors on both sides that had been built into the stone. His ship was above him, seemingly hanging in the empty air.

“How…?” Poe pointed at his ship. It looked unnatural from this angle, as if it wasn’t meant to be seen like this.

Jess jabbed her finger against his chest again. “You lucky bastard managed to crash over the one place on Korriban that is protected by a stasis field. This used to be a burial ground for the ancient Sith Lords and luckily for you the technology is still working.”

While Poe was a little disbelieving of his own luck, too, he had a much more immediate concern. “Did you tell Finn?”

“Relax, I already told your better half that you’re alive”, Jess replied. “He said he’d come here as soon as he secured the main temple. You missed the rest of battle but the gist is that we won and the Knights of Ren are as dead as the Sith Lords here in their tombs.”

“And BB8, where is he?”

“Still up there”, Jess pointed towards his ship. “I think the stasis field knocked out some of his circuits, but nothing that can’t be repaired.”

Poe exhaled with relief, ran a hand through his hair and then looked up at Jess with a grin and said, “It’s really over, isn’t it?”

“Well we still got to mop up the rest of the First Order and decide what to do with them but aside from that, yeah we won”, She grinned back at him. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Pretty damn good”, Poe agreed and took her hand to get to his feet. He thought about the promise he had made Finn before the battle, the house and the family they now would get to have after all. He really was the luckiest man in this universe.

“Poe Dameron!”

Poe made a mock grimace in Jess’ direction when he heard Finn call him. “Full name, I’m in trouble”, he grinned.

“You kind of deserve it”, Jess replied.

Poe turned around to face Finn who grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him forcefully.

“If that was meant to be a punishment it’s not very effective”, Poe murmured against Finn’s lips.

“Shut up”, Finn said. “I’m so mad at you right now.” He also kissed Poe again, not only because it was the most effective way to shut him up that Finn knew about but also because he wasn’t just mad. He was relieved and happy and exhilarant and hopeful, everything at once. 

“In my defence”, Poe said, leaning his forehead against Finn’s, “It seems like the Force really wants us to have those four kids and the cat.”

“Two cats”, Finn corrected him and kissed him again for good measure. 

Poe grinned into the kiss. He couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [ here](http://smaragdbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


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